Despite the trauma, her father Robert Mazyck said that his daughter was awake and able to respond to questions.

“She can’t move her legs, and her arms just tingle and hurt when you touch them,” he said. “But she is in good spirits. She is awake, she is alive, and she knows what is happening around her.”

The injured girl was due to graduate from local elementary P.S. 44 later this month. A math and track team enthusiast, her elder brother Daiquan Mazyck, 15, said Tayloni had been talking about her graduation ceremony for weeks.

“She was always asking me, everyday, if I was going to come to her graduation,” he said. “And I said I would be there even if I had to skip school.”

The suspect has been identified as Kane Cooper; he’s been charged with attempted murder, assault, criminal use of a firearm and reckless endangerment.

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